#im have eeeevil plans for these turts

[yellowhollyhock]

One Two Three Four Five Six Seven

Raph is starting to feel like he's got this new place figured out, but nobody can get too comfortable with whatever connected their worlds tk begin with continuing to escalate

Donnie tapped furiously at his keyboard, eyes alight with a manic energy accentuated by inflated bags and empty pizza boxes falling at random behind him.

Raph stumbled as a rug appeared beneath his feet.

Donnie shot out of his seat. "Entry points are much more concentrated in space than time. Seems to only flow in one direction so far."

He moved about the room, unblinking, picking up objects at random to examine. He stepped on a plastic bag, went cross-eyed examining a bead bracelet. He ran his hands across the couch. Raph decided to intervene when he started crawling in circles around it, sliding his fingers under and even sniffing between cushions.

"How many hours did you sleep?"

Donnie didn't even look up. "Ridiculous question. I'm an adult."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Because it just does," he replied simply, firmly.

Raph placed a hand over his face, holding in a frustrated sigh.

"Mikey said if you started acting funny I have to send you to bed."

Donnie looked up sharply with a stern frown. "Mikey--!"

He stopped, reconsidering his approach. "Mikey isn't here," he reasoned slyly, "We don't have to do what he says."

Raph crossed his arms. Donnie remained unmoved, expression calm, shoulders relaxed. He didn't break eye contact.

"Okay, fine," he changed tactics, "I'll wake up Raphael."

Donnie snorted, unimpressed. "Good luck with that."

Raph scowled heavily. Donnie paid him no mind.

He could always get under Leo's skin, but this wasn't Leo. Heck, this wasn't even the Donnie he was used to. He needed a different approach.

He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to channel his inner Mikey.

"You just seem tired," he mumbled, making his voice as pouty as he could manage.

"Yep," Donnie crouched back down and reached under the couch, lifting it slightly with his other arm. "And I will continue to be tired until we can figure out what is causing," he paused, eyes widening triumphantly as he pulled his arm out, holding up what he'd found, "this!"

It was a giant pen, almost as long as Donnie's arm, and for some reason had a bunny head on the end. Raph blinked. Donnie frowned.

"Actually, this might've already been there," he admitted.

"What if I just--" Raph stopped short, unable to think up any leverage. It was harder than he'd thought to channel Mikey. Maybe he could channel Donnie--his Donnie, that is. "What if I won't stop poking you until you get some sleep?"

Donnie's eyes crinkled in fond amusement. "It would be kind of difficult to fall asleep with you poking me."

"I'll break the TV," Raph threatened, balling his fists and getting into position.

Obviously he wouldn't actually break the TV, but Donnie didn't know him well enough to call his bluff. Probably.

"You're sweet," Donnie immediately proved him wrong, still infuriatingly calm. "But I honestly don't think I can sleep with--"

There was a loud crash as something fell on top of the TV, embedding itself into the screen.

"This going on," he sighed wearily.

It looked like a metal arm, from the car Don had fixed up. It felt like so long ago he was in that car with his brothers, chasing after Shredder with the hope to stop him from breaking out of jail in the first place.

Raph gestured at the mess in front of them. "Look, if that ain't a message from the universe--"

"It is not a message from the universe," Donnie said firmly, "But you have a point. I don't know what I'm doing and a nap might help."

"So breaking the TV worked," Raph observed, filing the information away for future use.

Donnie gave a short huff of laughter. "Brute force wins this round, bucko. I would say try not to get sucked into an alternate reality while I'm gone, but at this point maybe that would work in our favor."

Raph nodded once, ignoring a nervous lump in his throat. "Yeah. Things can't really get much weirder."

"Oh, I can think of some ways they could and probably will," Donnie said ominously.

With that, he disappeared into his room.

Raph paced for a bit, half-hoping he could simply pass through this dimension and finally finish his walk to the dojo.

That wasn't going anywhere fast, so he settled onto the couch, trying to get comfortable. Mikey wouldn't be home for a few more hours. Raphael wouldn't be up to spend a few minutes with them and then sneak out for still an hour after that.

He was starting to feel more at home here. The ceilings were high, his family was welcoming and warm. He still missed his own brothers and his own couch and his own high ceilings, but at least he didn't feel on edge all the time anymore.

"Where is Donatello?"

Raph startled, twisting to face Master Splinter. He was usually meditating at this time of day, and he hardly ever spoke so sharply. "He's not in his room?"

A grim frown made Raph's heart sink. "You are certain that's where he last was?"

Raph's shot up from his seat, heart sinking to the floor.

"He went to bed a few minutes ago."

"He is gone."

"Is there another place he might sleep?"

"I have checked all the rooms. He seems to have disappeared."

"What's going on?" Raphael asked, drawn into the living room by the raised voices.

Splinter's face hardened as he came to a decision. "We must leave, immediately. Raphael, call your brother."

"But--"

"Now!"

Everything was moving too fast; Master Splinter was ushering them out the door. One of the couch cushions disappeared. Skittles were pouring onto the kitchen table.

And Donnie was gone.

"I called Casey," Raphael announced as he snatched up a duffel bag and dropped his phone inside, "Mikey's meeting us at his place."

Raph didn't move. "What about Donnie?"

His words brought a heavy silence; Splinter and Raphael both shrunk under the weight of what they were about to do. But Splinter quickly got hold of himself, ears upright again, face firmly forwards.

"We will make a plan when we are all together."

"I'll stay back," Raph insisted, "If it takes the whole lair, maybe I'll end up back home."

"Or in some other random dimension," Raphael argued.

"We must stay together," Splinter said firmly.

"But this ain't staying together!"

"Look kid," Raphael whirled to face him, expression stern, "We got a responsibility, to you, to your family--heck, if Donnie found out you got lost on our watch--"

"He ain't finding anything out if we ditch him here!"

"What do you mean ditch him?" Raphael was losing patience. "He's not here!"

"Enough!" Splinter brought his staff down to silence them and command their attention. "We will stay together!"

They both stared at him, dumbfounded. Not by what he'd said, but by the scene they found behind him.

Instead of the staircase and the exit, they saw a crowd of humans, dressed in sweatpants and tank tops, who had turned when Splinter shouted.

But Raph barely even noticed the humans.

At the front of the room, demonstrating a yoga pose, was a mutant turtle, with a blue mask and an 'L' on his belt.